Manchester United have closed transfer discussions with Roma over the possible sale of Joshua Zirkzee, the Italian club’s sporting director confirmed. Concrete negotiations earlier in the month ended after Roma reassessed targets following the departure of their coach.

Speaking to DAZN, Roma’s Frederic Massara said negotiations with United had effectively stopped and that Roma were progressing with an alternative. “At the moment, United have closed off all transfer talks after the change of manager,” Massara explained. “I doubt they’ll change their minds.” Massara added that a deal for Atlético Madrid’s Giacomo Raspadori is on the cusp of completion after United made it clear they would not do business over Zirkzee.

For Zirkzee, the pause in talks leaves his immediate future uncertain. The Dutch forward has not played for his country since November 2024, a run the article links to his struggles at United, and he faces an uphill fight to secure a place at the 2026 World Cup if his club situation does not improve.

Any change in United’s management could alter the outlook for Zirkzee and other players on the fringes. A new permanent manager, with the likely candidates being Ole Gunnar Solskjær or Michael Carrick, may choose to increase opportunities for Zirkzee in the second half of the season. The same decision-making will extend to midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, who had grown frustrated with a limited role under Amorim.

Mainoo could benefit from a tactical reshuffle that moves him away from a cover role for Bruno Fernandes. Temporary boss Darren Fletcher recently offered reassurance on the young midfielder’s state, saying Mainoo is “in a good place ” following Amorim’s departure.

United’s selection picture is also improving. Bruno Fernandes has returned from injury and Bryan Mbeumo is on his way back from the Africa Cup of Nations, providing more options for whoever takes charge. Those returning options may hasten final decisions over Zirkzee and Mainoo in the coming days.

Kobbie Mainoo has been described as “in a good place” by caretaker boss Darren Fletcher as Manchester United prepare for life after Ruben Amorim. Fletcher said Mainoo has been calm around the squad and that a run in the team could be close.

Things became difficult for Mainoo earlier in the season. He requested to leave the club on loan in the summer and was thought to be pushing for a temporary exit this month, only for Amorim to insist he should remain as valuable backup to Bruno Fernandes. With Amorim gone, Mainoo is thought to be in higher spirits behind the scenes.

“He seems in a good place,” Fletcher explained. “Kobbie doesn’t give you much, so you wouldn’t know if he was in a good place or not so good. He’s like that. That’s his natural way.

“But I know him well and I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve seen him around throughout the season and I’ve had conversations with him in general, but he’s in a good place.

“I know Kobbie and I think he knows me and he knows [interim first-team coach] Travis Binnion, so he’s comfortable with his environment, he’s in a good place, he’s trained well.”

Mainoo’s future at Old Trafford is expected to be one of the first matters for United’s interim manager. Former players Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Michael Carrick and Ruud van Nistelrooy are all thought to be under consideration for a role that would buy the club time as they search for a permanent replacement to Amorim.

Fletcher will take charge of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round game against Brighton & Hove Albion, a match that could hand Mainoo just a second start of the season after the infamous Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby Town.

“I think we’ve had good success in the competition in recent years—won it a couple years ago, lost in a final,” Fletcher continued. “It’s an amazing competition. It’s the first trophy that I won as a player. It’s a special tournament.

“With the season so far—not in Europe, out of the League Cup, Premier League obviously—the FA Cup’s a trophy that we should be vying to win and giving ourselves every opportunity to win.”

Roy Keane launched a pointed criticism of Manchester United’s leadership this week, arguing that the continued presence of former figures has hampered successive managers. The former club captain singled out Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill as lingering influences and suggested their roles on the club board remain a problem.

“You see who’s making the decisions at Manchester United ,” Keane tailed off during a rant on Sky Sports this week, “you still have Ferguson and David Gill hanging on like a bad smell.” Ferguson and Gill remain non-executive directors and regular figures at Old Trafford, a reality Keane said affects those appointed after Ferguson left the dugout.

The club’s history was used as context. United hold a joint-record 20 top-flight titles but only three managers are responsible for those successes. Ernest Mangnall led in the first decade of the 20th century, Sir Matt Busby oversaw the club’s peak across the 1950s and 1960s, and Ferguson later dominated for decades. Busby, like Ferguson, did not fully relinquish influence when stepping away. After appointing Wilf McGuinness as his successor in 1969, Busby kept the title of manager while McGuinness was designated “chief coach.”

“Not everyone, sadly, would play for Wilf,” United’s David Sadler would later reflect. “The side as a whole did not give 100% effort for him. It was as simple as that.” Busby returned for an ultimately doomed second spell, a fate Ferguson has so far avoided.

Keane also directed his ire at the club’s recent recruitment and decision-making, criticising minority co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and director Jason Wilcox for their roles during Ruben Amorim’s “disastrous 14-month reign.” “What happens in these job interviews? I’m intrigued,” Keane asked, his beady eyes dancing around the Sky Sports studio. “Why do they keep giving certain people a job? What happens in the interview that they sit there and go, and 12, 14 months later, ‘he’s not the guy for us.’

“Almost forget the CV,” he added. “You need something on your CV, of course, that you’ve won a trophy or managed a long time. But you’ve got to look somebody in the eye and go, ‘Are you the man to get us places?’” Keane dismissed the idea of Darren Fletcher as the permanent manager and expressed a preference for Eddie Howe.